Most of the readers of my post know that Revolvers are a thing of beauty to me and my preference. Those new readers probably guessed this fact by my blogging handle Mr. Revolverguy. I believe both platforms have its place of deployment and Glock sure has proved that. The Glock has been deployed in many military and police departments around the world. The Glock actually received its beginning with the purpose of filling this exact nitch. Around about 1980, the Austrian military announced they were looking to replace its WWII era Walther P38 pistols. Gaston Glock went to work trying to fulfill this need for the Austrian military but there were many doubts. It said in the Gun World Gaston had no previous knowledge or experience in firearms design but was very knowledgably in advanced synthetics and polymers. Initially Glock was seen as a plastic pistol and there was heavy resistance. Having been present, I still remember the first day my brother-in-law presented his Glock 17 to his father a WWII & Korean War veteran. The look on his face was a priceless moment as well as his words; he informed his son wasn’t it time for him to stop playing with toy guns. Despite the resistance, Glock has commanded respect and has earned 70% of the market share for handguns amongst US Law enforcement agencies. With this review, I will attempt to understand and show why a majority of Law Enforcement Agencies are Glock Fans. Though there are many enthusiasts as with Law Enforcement, there are many adversaries within the civilian community who to this date struggle with the polymer frame, Glocks blocky looks and the grip angle. Which leads us to the Fit&Finish part of the review.

Fit&Finish Grade Excellent

As seen by the picture above this is a Glock 30 Generation 3. There are currently as of 2010 4 generations of the Glock. Third Generation Glocks were introduced with thumb rest on both sides of the frame along with finger grooves on the front side of the rail. Functionally for the 3rd Generation Glock family the locking block was enlarged a load chamber indicator was added as well as a extra cross pin to aid the distribution of forces exerted by the locking block during recoil and return to battery. The tenifer finish Glock uses on its slides has to be one of the hardest most enduring finishes other than those of the stainless revolver I have seen. Witnessing many Glock law enforcement trade ins, which has been, holstered hundreds if not thousands of times with very little wear.
There have been many changes made to this Glock 30. An extended slide release, extended take down pins, extended magazine release, frame plug, front night site, and rear ghost ring night site.
Intended as a CCW or Backup to your full size duty weapon the Glock finish has stood the test of time and deserves an excellent rating.

Handling/Feel In the Shooters Hand Grade Great
The Glock 30 is considered to be a compact frame and considering I have very large hands I knew this would be an opportunity for me. I decided to purchase finger extensions for my magazines this improved the grip but something was still missing. A glock gunsmith recommended for the size of my hands I should also purchase the plug for the rear of the frame. A little weary already from being a long time revolver fanatic I took his advice, low and behold this is the ticket to give me the control and feel I needed to feel more confident. I feel most would enjoy the grip modifications including those with small hands. I ask my wife to hold the Glock 30 before and after modifications and she even stated the after was much more comfortable. Understand this does give up some of it’s conceal ability. For these reason the Glock 30 gets a rating of great.

Trigger Grade Great
Glock reports from the factory the trigger is set for 5.5 pounds. As I considered this as a working CCW firearm, I decided to keep the important internal mechanisms all factory. The Glock 30 trigger was smooth and consistent. Reset is also something I pay very close attention to in testing as well as dry firing as it helps me with faster follow up shots. Unfortunately the reset on this pistol was not very consistent and I am not sure why. At times, I could feel the reset and at times, I could not causing me to fully extend and release the trigger. I also tested trigger pull weight 15 times to discover this trigger consistently measured 4.5 pounds as seen by the RCBS trigger pull gauge below. The trigger category is given a Great rating because of the opportunities listed.

Sights Grade Excellent
On this topic I really debated if this was, deserving the top rating of excellent based on the changes I had to make in this category. Trying to ensure I remained consistent in my grading having not given the handling and feel an excellent rating due to the changes, which were made. Now wait before the criticism starts, the standard Glock sights can be ordered in a number of different configurations. Based on this variety and the standard sights, which I have used to put many rounds down range would receive and excellent rating from me. This being a weapon seeing most of its work at night via CCW night’s sights was a needed addition though I have to admit the ghost ring rear was only cool factor until I actually started to use it. I truly believe these sights improved target acquisition for me in day and night time settings.

Reliability Excellent&Accuracy Grade Great
In previous articles, this has been one overall rating. To be fair I had to split this category. The Glock 30’s reliability has been perfect since first day of ownership. In an effort to find, which ammo is most accurate for this platform I have fed the Glock, Remington and Federal factory ammo. I have also fed the Glock 30 a number of different reloads of my own which included jacketed hollow points, variable COAL (cartridge overall length) lengths including very light reloads and have never experienced a failure to feed, eject or any malfunction. Glocks are known for their reliability and is one of the main reasons most law enforcement agencies think highly of all Glocks.

Some would consider accuracy for a CCW or Duty weapon excellent. Again, to remain consistent with my testing which includes testing out to 25 yards lead me to the rating of great. Most defensive shootings happen within 7 to 10 yards. I am no lawyer but I think it would be very difficult to prove to a judge or jury of your peers that you shot at someone 25 yards or more away because you feared for your life. If presented with this situation I would want to be armed with a carbine or rifle though a .45 is more than capable of defense out to this range.

At 7 yards, the Glock 30 proved to be excellent and very accurate. Out of my first magazine, I put 10 rounds down range as fast as I could reacquire the target and pull the trigger.

I then proceeded to put an additional magazine of 10 rounds down range. This time using a two handed, hold weaver stance slow fire attempting to get the best accuracy as possible.
As you can see at defensive or handgun combat distances the Glock 30 proved to be very accurate.

I then moved the target back to 15 yards. Again taking a two handed hold with a slow deliberate firing attempting to achieve the Glocks and mine best accuracy.

Now comes this range visits hardest task 25 yards.

To my surprise, I missed my 5.5-inch target 3 times out of 10. Though most of this can be blamed on the shooter, the short sight radius of 5.77 inches presents challenges for me out to this distance. I started to load another magazine only to find I had five of my reloaded rounds left. I knew I did not have much time at the range so I only brought along enough ammo to accomplish the testing. Now I have to make the best of the last five shots. Not happy with my outcome at 25 yards this again would be my test.
Much better results this time.

Glock continues to own market share in the Law Enforcement Agency world for many good reasons. For me it is a great CCW platform and I have no concerns at all with Glocks reliability to entrust my life and my family’s safety to it. Since 1980, Glock has changed very few features until the introduction of Generation 4 at Shot Show 2010, which now includes replaceable back straps. The next few years will be very interesting to see how long Glock can hold on to its market share with new introductions like the Smith and Wesson M&P.

Just bought a gen 3 30s and can’t wait to shoot it and give my opinion of it. I have a 21 and a 19 both of which shoot great. Have been carrying a xds 9 and was looking for something with a little more power. I think this will fill the bill. Also my 19 holster works great for the 30s.